The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is patently wrong in its assumption that massive troop and artillery deployment would spell the difference in their fight against the revolutionary movement.
The arrival of the 1st mechanized infantry battalion (IB) and the 3rd field artillery battalion, the recent deployment of the 66th IB and the 3rd special forces battalion and the impending addition of another battalion of the PNP Special Action Force in the region showcase the AFP’s use of the “shock and awe” method. The intent is quite clear: use an overwhelming force against the NPA and instill fear in the minds of the revolutionary mass base. But is this overwhelming force effective?
A display of superior armament and troop strength by the AFP is inconsequential to the New People’s Army. While tanks and artillery are important weapons in conventional war, they hardly play a significant role against a mass-based army waging guerrilla warfare. For one, the NPA at the current stage of the people’s war is basically a mobile politico-military army. Thus, the AFP has no fixed military target to attack. Also, the rugged mountainous terrain of the guerrilla bases and zones render these tanks and artillery nearly useless. Except for bombing purposes, which hit no particular NPA target but rather only pose clear danger to the lives and livelihood of the civilian population, AFP artillery is no match to the superiority of guerrilla warfare.
What the AFP is doing is to shock, nay terrorize, the peasants and Lumad (indigenous). The desired effect is to further spread the climate of fear among the masses and compel them to cease from supporting the revolutionary movement. There is reason to expect more sordid tales of human rights violations as Gloria Arroyo unleash more and more of her dogs of war on the people. And this is what escapes the AFP generals: the use of military power by a politically-isolated regime under conditions of ever-worsening socio-economic crisis only succeeds in further infuriating the masses against the reactionary state. As a consequence, the revolutionary soil is further fertilized, favorable to the continuous development of the revolutionary movement.
AFP eastern Mindanao command chief Maj. Gen. Armando Cunanan merely manifests an absurdity arising from desperation when he issued an idiotic challenge to the NPA to confront his troops in face to face battle “and see who is the stronger force”. Such is not a mark of courage; rather it is a sign of weakness. It only shows that the AFP, while superior in a war of quick decision, is inutile against a people’s army waging widespread and intensive guerrilla warfare in the framework of a protracted people’s war.
(sgd) Rigoberto F. Sanchez
Spokesperson
Merardo Arce command
Southern Mindanao regional operations command
New People’s Army
